FED:Crook to vote against Malaysia swap deal

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called a full meeting of the Labor caucus to discuss a new stance on border protection after federal cabinet chose to shelve a vote on migration policy to avoid a humiliating defeat on the floor of parliament.

Caucus members turned up for the meeting at 4:15pm expecting a fierce debate on migration policy as some in the party’s Left faction insist that asylum seekers should be processed within Australia rather than transferred overseas.

The renewed internal debate comes after the government was forced to use delaying tactics in the House of Representatives on Thursday to prevent its own migration amendments being put to a vote.

Ms Gillard faced certain defeat on the amendments after Western Australian Nationals MP Tony Crook told her on Wednesday night that he would vote with the Coalition against her changes.

Sources confirmed to The Australian Financial Review that the migration bill would not be put to a vote on Thursday as scheduled and that the government needed time to decide a new position after facing certain defeat on laws to restore its controversial Malaysia solution for asylum seekers.

An emergency meeting of cabinet on Thursday morning was unable to produce a public position on the matter, leading to further cabinet discussions and the full caucus meeting.

Labor MPs told The Financial Review at around 1pm that there would be a caucus meeting at 4:15pm on Thursday, a time when many MPs are usually preparing to return to their electorates.

While Ms Gillard’s amendments were designed to remove legal doubts over the use of offshore processing but her plan to transfer asylum seekers overseas faces resistance within the caucus.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

Left faction convenor Doug Cameron has argued in favour of onshore processing and other members including Melissa Parke and John Faulkner are also said to advocate an end to offshore detention.

The High Court rejected the Malaysia solution, forcing the government to amend the Migration Act. But with the amendments unable to pass the parliament, Labor might have to resort to onshore processing.

Mr Crook informed the Prime Minister of his decision on Wednesday afternoon before announcing it to reporters at about 9am on Thursday, around the time that Ms Gillard called the cabinet meeting. He met Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on Tuesday.

If the migration amendments were put to a vote and defeated, it would be the first time a government had lost such a vote on one of its own bills in the House of Representatives since 1929.

The Coalition made it clear during Question time that it wanted the amendments brought to a vote as soon as possible. “Bring it on," yelled shadow treasurer Joe Hockey and other Coalition members.

“You’re running away from a vote," Don Randall, a Liberal from Western Australia, interjected to the Prime Minister.

Ms Gillard said the Coalition should think about the substance of their policy position, which opposes her Malaysian solution, rather than the process of the debate.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott moved a suspension of standing orders in order to bring forward the debate on the migration amendments, as Ms Gillard left the chamber.

“Why is the Prime Minister scared of putting her Malaysian people swap to a vote? A Prime Minister who can’t stay in the parliament to listen to a debate like this is a Prime Minister who does not deserve to stay in office," he said.

Mocking the government, Mr Abbott said he was aware of the 4.15pm caucus meeting and speculated openly about whether that would lead to the government dropping its Malaysian solution.

“A party with no policy on border protection is a party with no right to be in government," he said.

Earlier, Coalition frontbencher and manager of Opposition business in the lower house Christopher Pyne said Labor had used tactics in the chamber during Thursday morning to delay the vote on the migration amendments.

“Today we’ve seen the latest act of cowardice from a government that lacks the courage of its convictions," Mr Pyne said.

Mr Pyne said the government had added speakers to the debate on a non-controversial workplace safety bill, stretching out the proceedings on Thursday morning in a move to keep the migration bill on the House of Representatives notice paper without putting it to a vote.

“They are so frightened of the judgement of the parliament, so terrified that if they lose that vote they would need to call an election as happened in 1929 when Stanley Melbourne Bruce lost his maritime bill and did the right thing by calling an election," Mr Pyne said.

The Coalition frontbencher said there were “tools at the disposal of the Opposition" to force the matter to a vote but said he would not telegraph his tactics in advance.

“We are very determined that the government be kept to its promise that this bill be voted on this week, and we will do whatever we can to ensure that they keep that promise," he said.

Labor sources, however, noted that a vote could not be forced unless the Coalition gained a majority on the floor of parliament, a move that would need an unlikely alliance with independents Andrew Wilkie, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott as well as Mr Crook.